Kamala will invest in clean energy to meet climate targets.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ emergence as the leading Democratic presidential contender has garnered a renewed sense of optimism among environmentalists who say she offers a strong track record of climate and clean energy policies and would continue to advance that work in the White House.

“I’m ecstatic — I couldn’t be more thrilled,” Leah Stokes, an associate professor of climate and energy policy at UC Santa Barbara, said Monday.

“Kamala Harris is a climate and environmental justice champion, and she has been for over two decades,” Stokes said. “We have a real shot to not just win the White House and have a climate president again, but also to secure strong majorities in the House and the Senate and have an opportunity to pass more climate legislation — which is what we need to do if we want to be on track to meet the targets that scientists say are necessary.”

Harris, a Californian who has previously described climate change as an “existential threat” that must be treated with a sense of urgency, has prioritized investments in clean energy jobs, air and water protections, fossil fuel accountability, climate action and environmental justice, Stokes and others said in the wake of Sunday’s announcement that President Biden was withdrawing from the race.